It is known for host vehicles to be equipped with object detection capabilities, such as vehicle mounted cameras, lasers, ultrasounds and sensors. These types of devices have a field of view that typically extends a certain distance ahead of the host vehicle and can detect the presence of target vehicles and other objects, as well as certain features in upcoming road segments. The output provided by these vehicle mounted devices can provide some information regarding potential upcoming hazards or concerns, but that information is usually limited or confined to the field of view, the range of the device, or the estimated horizon of a digital map.
It may be desirable in certain circumstances, like those encountered during the use of automated or autonomous driving modes, to obtain information about road segments that are beyond the field of view of vehicle mounted devices (i.e., far forward sensing). Access to such information may give a vehicle operating in an automated driving mode advanced warning of a hazard or concern so that one or more remedial actions can be taken.